Asa Griggs Candler

Asa Candler 1923

Asa Griggs Candler (born December 30, 1851 in Villa Rica , Georgia , † March 12, 1929 in Atlanta , Georgia) was an American businessman who was mainly successful through the sale of Coca-Cola . He was also the mayor of Atlanta.

Candler began his career as a pharmacy owner . In 1887 he bought the Coca-Cola recipe from its inventor John Stith Pemberton for $ 2,300 . The success of Coca-Cola made him a fortune. In 1892 he founded the Coca-Cola Company . A year later, Candler registered Coca-Cola as a trademark and marketed its product as early as 1895 throughout the United States and, since 1896, in neighboring countries.

Candler was a member of the Episcopal Methodist Church of the South (BMKS), a forerunner of the Evangelical Methodist Church . He donated a million dollars to the BMKS and a piece of land for Emory University so that it could move from Oxford to Atlanta. The Candler School of Theology bears his name. (Also for later Emory Hospital English. Emory Healthcare) donated Candler million.

In 1917 Candler retired from the company and became mayor of Atlanta (1917-1919). In January, Asa Candler handed over management of the business to his son Howard. At Christmas of the year Asa Candler bequeathed 90% of the voting shares to his relatives except seven. However, as early as 1919, Howard Candler sold the Coca-Cola Company behind his father's back to a consortium led by Ernest Woodruff and Eugene Stetson for 25 million dollars.

Candler suffered a stroke in 1926 and died in 1929. Candler Field at Atlanta Airport is named after him.

literature

• Kemp, Kathryn W .: God's Capitalist. Asa Candler of Coca-Cola. Mercer University Press, 2002.
• Various authors: "Asa Candler", in: The New Georgia Encyclopedia. 2002 (online)

Web links

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